During the Eighty Years' War the Generality Lands came under control of the Dutch Republic, and this situation was consolidated by the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Most of the territories had no provincial government because they were cut off from their original governments, which remained under Spanish rule. The prefixStaats- indicates that this part of the province was under general States rule, as a dependent territory. For both the Generality Lands and the Dutch colonies, sovereignty was claimed by the Generality on the basis Right of conquest.

When French rule ended and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands began, none of the Generality lands returned. Bataafs-Brabant was merged with a number of formerly semi-independent Holy Romanfiefs and part of the province of Holland to become the province of Noord-Brabant; Staats-Vlaanderen was incorporated into the province of Zeeland; and most parts of Staats-Oppergelre and Staats-Limburg were merged with territories gained from Prussia to form the province of Limburg, with the rest going to Prussia.

Territories of the Dutch Republic outside Europe were also under general States rule, for example Staten Island in present-day New York City. New Zealand was also originally called Staten Landt after its Dutch discovery.